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When Will There Be Good News?

By Kate Atkinson

(41)

| Hardcover | 9780385608015

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Critics

Explanations waiting to happen

Kate Atkinson threw her readers a curveball a few books back. Starting her career with a bang by winning the Whitbread Book of the Year for her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, Atkinson had seemed to set out a stall for smart, playful ye ... (read full critics)

guardian.co.uk published on Fri, 24 Sep 2010

The literary detective

Kate Atkinson made her name with literary novels such as the Whitbread-winning Behind the Scenes at the Museum, so it's not surprising that her detective novels have a self-consciously literary feel. In this, the third outing for ex-detective Jackson ... (read full critics)

guardian.co.uk published on Fri, 24 Sep 2010

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9 Reviews

a real surprise for me - well contrived plot and excellent characterisation - ready to be made into a movie- the first 10 pages really gripping

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Inaeugenia said on May 15, 2012 about the Audio CD edition | Add your feedback

Oh, Ms. Atkinson. You had me at Lothian and Borders.

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Claire N. said on May 21, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

Heel mooie en spannende literaire krimi.
Samenvatting uit the "Guardian". Zo mooi kan ik het niet.
When Will There Be Good News? opens with an act of shocking violence. Six-year-old Joanna is out walking with sister Jessica, baby brother Joseph and mother Gabrielle when they're suddenly attacked b ... (continue)

Heel mooie en spannende literaire krimi.
Samenvatting uit the "Guardian". Zo mooi kan ik het niet.
When Will There Be Good News? opens with an act of shocking violence. Six-year-old Joanna is out walking with sister Jessica, baby brother Joseph and mother Gabrielle when they're suddenly attacked by Andrew Decker, a complete stranger. Joanna hides in the long grass and is saved, but her brother, sister and mother are stabbed to death.
Thirty years later, Joanna is now Dr Joanna Hunter, a successful GP in Edinburgh with a baby, married to Neil, a local businessman. For a nanny, Joanna hires 16-year-old Reggie, whose mother has recently drowned on holiday and who is taking private tutoring for her Greek and Latin A-levels from terminally ill born-again Christian Ms MacDonald. Reggie has no experience with small children ("What was there to know? They were small, they were helpless, they were confused, and Reggie could identify with all of that"), but the fit is a comfortable one for both her and Dr Hunter, despite Reggie's need to keep drug-dealing brother Billy away from her working life.
Brodie, meanwhile, is in Yorkshire, stealing a strand of hair from a two-year-old boy. At first we think he's investigating a kidnapping, but it turns out that the boy may be Jackson's own son; his mother is ex-girlfriend Julia from the previous novels, now estranged from Jackson and claiming he isn't the father. Hair in his possession, Jackson tries to return to his new home in London. This turns out to be surprisingly difficult.
Back in Edinburgh, Detective Chief Inspector Louise Monroe, who nearly had a romantic connection with Brodie in One Good Turn, is now happily if surprisingly married to jolly orthopaedic surgeon Patrick ("He was Irish, which always helped"). Monroe is the one who has to alert Dr Hunter that Decker has served his full sentence and is about to be released. Coincidentally (in a book filled with them), she's back at the same house the next day, interviewing Neil Hunter, whose arcade has burned down in a suspicious fire.
Events ramp up at considerable speed. There is a surprising train crash which, again coincidentally, happens in Ms MacDonald's backyard while Reggie is house-sitting. The train crash is, in fact, caused by Ms MacDonald losing control of her car, and Reggie rushes out into the night to look for survivors, saving the life of none other than Brodie, who really, really got on the wrong train.
Reggie is also alarmed at the sudden disappearance of Dr Hunter, and pesters DCI Monroe to investigate, even though her husband swears she's only gone off to visit a sick aunt. Is this true? Has the reappearance of Decker caused her to flee? Or is there something even worse going on?
Lovers of the crime genre have given Atkinson a hard time for her use of coincidence, and truth be told, the first half of When Will There Be Good News? can be a little hard to swallow. There are a lot of characters with similar backgrounds to keep track of, and they all keep running into each other in increasingly unlikely ways. There was even a point halfway through - when the ID of one character turned up in the pocket of another - when I groaned audibly.
(Guardian)

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Olivia said on Feb 23, 2011 about the Others edition | Add your feedback

My first Kate Atkinson

My first Kate Atkinson novel is the 3rd of a trilogy, yet this was satisfying and understandable on its own. You know how delicious it is to find an author whose obvious talent is the deft weaving of words and phrases? I can't wait to read her other novels!

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Marion the librarian said on Mar 31, 2010 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

This the third mystery novel of Kate Atkinson’s that I have read and thoroughly enjoyed. She draws you into the story very cleverly and I was quickly engrossed in the lives of the at first seemingly unrelated characters. Though of course having read her work before I knew that by a series of coincid ... (continue)

This the third mystery novel of Kate Atkinson’s that I have read and thoroughly enjoyed. She draws you into the story very cleverly and I was quickly engrossed in the lives of the at first seemingly unrelated characters. Though of course having read her work before I knew that by a series of coincidences the mystery would gradually become clear and all link together seamlessly. Maybe rather a lot of coincidences to be completely believable but this is reading for pleasure and it is how Kate Atkinson’s novels work.
Once again the characters of Jackson Brodie and Louise Monroe appear as they have done in her previous two mystery novels. Although it does not matter if you have not read the first two, for me it was a pleasure to reconnect with these protagonists. I found every one of the characters appealing and it was intriguing as to how all the overlapping connections between them were eventually going to be resolved. She certainly kept me guessing and entertained right to the very end.
Thirty years ago a terrible crime was committed in Devon for which a man was convicted. The novel starts with this vignette that sets the scene for the mystery that follows when the man convicted of the crime is released from prison. Switching to Edinburgh thirty years on a mother and baby go missing, but the only person who seems concerned at first is the child's Nanny, sixteen year old Reggie Chase, a character with an intriguing background.
If you are looking to loose yourself in a suspense mystery with great characters then this can be recommended.
In case you are interested I have included links to Bookcrossing entries for her previous two mystery novels
Case Histories http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/3147510
One Good Turn http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/5880955
Kate Atkinson’s Website http://www.kateatkinson.co.uk/

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Lindyloumac said on Feb 23, 2010 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

This is the first book by Kate Atkinson which I have read and I absolutely loved it. The characters are flawed and believable and the plot full of interesting twists and turns. This book kept me up long after I should have been asleep because I couldn't put it down. I really enjoyed it and felt a bi ... (continue)

This is the first book by Kate Atkinson which I have read and I absolutely loved it. The characters are flawed and believable and the plot full of interesting twists and turns. This book kept me up long after I should have been asleep because I couldn't put it down. I really enjoyed it and felt a bit sad when I finished it. I will definitely be buying more of Kate's books and highly recommend this one!

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Lunarossa said on Feb 2, 2010 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback